Splash shield for plunger

ABSTRACT

A splash shield for a plunger. The shield is capable of receiving a plunger. The shield has an open configuration and a closed configuration. The shield is also capable of receiving a cover which forces adjusts the shield from the open configuration to the closed configuration. The device may include a secondary shield disposed on the shield.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/836,358 filed Jun. 18, 2013; thecontent of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a splash shield for use with a plunger, andmore particularly, a plunger used for clearing clogs in a drain pipe ofa toilet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is not uncommon for drain pipes from toilets to become clogged. Aplunger is typically used in order to clear the clog in the drain pipe.While various types of plungers exist, they each have the same basiccomponents, namely a flexible head with an open bottom end and a handle.

In order to use the plunger, the head of the plunger is positioned sothat the open bottom end covers the pipe opening at the bottom of atoilet bowl. Typically, this position results in the head being underwater, at least partially. Once the head is positioned, the handle ofthe plunger is gripped by the user and moved up and down. The movementof the handle is transferred to the head of the plunger. The head of theplunger, thus, moves up and down, which creates a movement of the waterin the drainage pipe which can clear the obstruction causing the clog.

The movement of the handle also typically results in the splashing ofwater within the toilet bowl, and often out of the toilet bowl. This isa result of the movement necessary to create the appropriate force toclear the obstruction which can be violent. Since the water within thetoilet bowl can be filled with bacteria and other undesirable material,it is desirable to minimize, or eliminate, the ability of water tosplash out of the toilet bowl.

Accordingly, it is desirable to keep the water/waste material within thetoilet bowl before, during and after use of the plunger. The prior artincludes several different devices aimed at addressing this problem.

For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,785 to Baker discloses a device thatincludes a cover that surrounds the head of a plunger. The cover opensin a clamshell-like manner and is placed on a toilet seat to block waterfrom splashing. However, since the cover is also the shield, a largecover may be needed to facilitate adequately covering larger toiletbowls. Such a large cover may make the device cumbersome and inefficientat working with a variety of differently sized toilet bowls.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,368 to Webb discloses another type of device whichincludes an expandable shield that engages an inner surface of a toiletbowl to block water from splashing out. The expandable shield isattached to the handle of the plunger. Accordingly, any movement of theplunger handle will result in movement of the shield. This may lead toan inability to keep the water from splashing out of the toilet bowl.

Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,035,456 to Taylor discloses a device thatstores a plunger, the top of which is used as a shield when the plungeris used. This rigid shield is secured to the handle. In order toposition the plunger in the basin of the device, after use, one mustmove the wet (and dripping) device out of the toilet bowl. Additionally,any movement of the plunger handle will result in movement of theshield.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 7,797,768 to St. John discloses a device which isa drape-like shield that is mounted over the toilet bowl/seat. Whilesuch drapes allow for independent movement of the plunger handle whenthe drape-like shield is over the toilet bowl, the drape requires timeto set up and requires clean-up and disposal of same after use.Moreover, the drape collects water that splashes out, rather thanpreventing water from escaping the toilet bowl.

While these devices are presumably effective for their intendedpurposes, the present invention is directed to shield that is easilydeployed, minimizes water splash, minimizes a user's interaction withsame, and which has a relatively small size, yet an ability to fit avariety of differently sized toilets.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment of the present invention, the present inventionprovides a device to be used with a plunger, the device having aflexible shield. The flexible shield is capable of expanding from aclosed position to an open position within a toilet bowl and may bebiased towards the open position. The flexible shield may include arelatively planar center portion with an aperture capable of receiving ahandle of a plunger and a plurality of blades extending away from thecenter portion. The blades may be bendable, allowing the shield to beflexible and transition from an open configuration, wherein both thecenter portion and blades are relatively planar, to a closedconfiguration, wherein the blades are bent relative to the centerportion.

The use of the flexible shield will allow, inter alia, the device tohave a small foot print when not in use. Moreover, it is also believedthat the flexible shield will allow the device to accommodatedifferently sized toilets. Furthermore, by using a flexible shield thatis biased towards the open position, a user need not adjust the shieldby hand. This results in less contact with the device and moreparticularly less contact with portions of the device that have been incontact with the water/water materials in the toilet bowl.

In an embodiment the splash shield also includes a support passingthrough the center portion of the flexible shield, with a portion abovethe flexible shield and a portion below the flexible shield. The supportwill provide the flexible shield with some structural integrity.Additionally, the support can also help maintain the position of theshield within the toilet bowl and is believed to act to bias theflexible shield away from the back of the toilet bowl allowing theflexible shield to obtain a more planar (i.e., flatter) configuration.

In an embodiment, the flexible shield comprises at least two members,each member including a center portion with an aperture and a pluralityof blades extending away from the center portion. In an embodiment, eachmember of the at least two members also includes a plurality of gaps,with each gap being disposed between adjacent blades. It is believedthat this two member configuration provides a flexible shield that isrigid in the open position, but easily bends and changes to a closedposition.

In some embodiments wherein the flexible shield comprises at least twomembers and a first member of the at least two members may include atleast two support arms wherein each support arm of the at least twosupport arms is disposed in a gap of the first member. The support armsmay be beneficial in connecting the two members, as well as beneficialin providing structural integrity to the shield when in the openconfiguration, while still allowing the flexible shield to shift to aclosed configuration.

In some embodiments of the present invention, each blade includes anouter edge and the outer edges are feathered. The feathering is believedto increase the flexibility of the flexible shield.

In an embodiment, a secondary shield disposed on top of the flexibleshield. The secondary shield may be supported by at least one supportarm extending above the flexible shield at an angle. The use of thesecondary shield is believed to increase the ability to prevent waterfrom splashing out of the toilet bowl.

In an embodiment the splash shield also includes a cover. The coverforces the flexible shield from the open position to the closed positionwhen the cover is applied to the flexible shield and allows the flexibleshield to shift from the closed position to the open position when thecover is removed from the flexible shield. By using a cover, a user neednot touch the flexible shield or any part of the device that was nearthe water/waste material in the toilet bowl in order to shift theflexible shield from an open configuration to a closed configuration.

In various embodiments of the present invention, the handle of theplunger moves independently of the flexible shield—at least when theflexible shield is in the open position within the toilet bowl. Thus,the movement of the handle will not move the flexible shield and willnot create opportunities for water/waste material to splash out of thetoilet bowl.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the present invention alsoincludes a disk having an aperture capable of receiving the handle ofthe plunger. Furthermore, the disk has a perimeter greater than a sizeof the aperture in the flexible shield. The disk can be used to ensurethat the flexible shield is kept separate from the head of the plunger.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the present inventionprovides a device for a plunger having a flexible shield having anaperture capable of receiving a handle of a plunger and which is capableof expanding from a closed position to an open position within a toiletbowl and is biased to the open position. The device also includes acover for enclosing the flexible shield. The cover includes an aperturefor receiving the handle of the plunger. Additionally, the cover forcesthe flexible shield from the open position to the closed position whenthe cover is applied to the flexible shield and allows the flexibleshield to shift from the closed position to the open position when thecover is removed from the flexible shield. In an embodiment, the coveris removably disposed about the handle of the plunger. The cover mayinclude a handle.

Again, the use of the cover allows for a user to shift the flexibleshield between an open and closed configuration without touching theflexible shield, or any part of the device that was in the toilet bowl.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the device also includes adrip pan for receiving a bottom of the cover and a support arm forreceiving the handle of the plunger. This allows the device to be storedin an upright position so that water drips off of the shield.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the inventionprovides a device for a plunger having a flexible shield comprised of atleast two members. Each member preferably includes a center portion withan aperture capable of receiving a handle of a plunger, a plurality ofblades extending away from the center portion and being capable ofbending, and, a plurality of gaps, each gap being disposed betweenadjacent blades. The splash shield also includes a secondary shielddisposed on top of the flexible shield, the secondary shield includingan aperture of receiving the handle of the plunger.

In some embodiments, the secondary shield comprises two members moveablyconnected. Preferably, a spring is provided for biasing the two membersaway from one another. Such a secondary shield is believed to also bebeneficial because it can mount on top of the rim of a toilet bowl,which will further support the flexible shield within the toilet bowl.

It is preferred that the secondary shield includes at least one finextending away from the secondary shield and towards the flexibleshield. The fin minimizes water splashing back and forth (generallyperpendicular to the fin) in the toilet bowl.

It is to be understood that the aspects and objects of the presentinvention described above may be combinable and that other advantagesand aspects of the present invention will become apparent to thosehaving ordinary skill in the art upon reading the following descriptionof the drawings and the detailed description thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully apparent from the followingdescription and appended claims, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings. Understanding that the accompanying drawingsdepict only typical embodiments, and are, therefore, not to beconsidered to be limiting of the scope of the present disclosure, theembodiments will be described and explained with specificity and detailin reference to the accompanying drawings as provided below.

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of a device according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side partially exploded view of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a member of a flexible shield used in a deviceaccording to one or more embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 a top view of a second member of a flexible shield used in adevice according to one or more embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the members from FIGS. 3 and 4 being matedtogether to form a flexible shield used in a device according to one ormore embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view of an secondary shield used in association with adevice according to one or more embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a top perspective view of a device according to one or moreembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view of a device according to one or more embodimentsof the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many differentforms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described indetail one or more embodiments with the understanding that the presentdisclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principlesof the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to theembodiments illustrated.

Reference throughout this description to features, advantages, objects,or other similar language does not imply that all of the features,advantages, or objects that may be realized with the present inventionshould be, or are, in any single embodiment of the invention. Rather,language referring to the features, advantages, or objects is understoodto mean that specific features, advantages, or objects described inconnection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment ofthe present invention. Thus, any discussion of the features, advantages,or objects throughout this specification may, but does not necessarily,refer to the same embodiment.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, device 10 is used in conjunction with plunger12 having head 14 and handle 16. Device 10 includes flexible shield 18and, preferably, cover 20. Flexible shield 18 is capable of expandingfrom a closed position (see FIG. 1—shown in dashed lines within cover20) to an open position (see FIG. 2) within a toilet bowl. Accordingly,it is preferred that flexible shield 18 is made from a material that hasmemory, which will bias flexible shield 18 to the open position, butwill also allow flexible shield 18 to have some structural integritywhile in the open configuration. One such preferred material ispolycarbonate having a thickness between 0.015-0.030 inches, and moreparticularly a thickness of 0.20.

Preferably flexible shield 18 includes center portion 22 and a pluralityof blades 24 extending away from the center portion 22. Center portion22 can be planar (or substantially planar), or in other words,substantially flat. Thus, in either the open position or the closedposition, center portion 22 will have the same configuration.

Blades 24 are bendable and can move from a position in which they arerelatively co-planar with center portion 22 (and flexible shield 18 isin the open position (FIG. 2)) to a bent configuration (and the flexibleshield 18 is in the closed position (FIG. 1)). It is preferred thatouter edges 26 of blades 24 are feathered. By “feathered” it is meantthat the outer edges 26 of the blades 24 include incisions 28 that arerelatively short in length such that incisions 28 do not reach centerportion 22. The feathering of the outer edges can also be seen in FIGS.6-8 discussed herein.

Center portion 22 also includes aperture 30 for receiving handle 16 ofplunger 12. Aperture 30 is sized so that when flexible shield 18 is inan open position within a toilet bowl, plunger 12 and more particularly,handle 16, will move without moving flexible shield 18. In order toavoid flexible shield 18 from interacting with head 14 of plunger 12,device 10 may also include disk 32 (see FIG. 8) having a perimetergreater than the size of aperture 30. Disk 32 is positioned betweenflexible shield 18 and head 14 and sits atop head 14 to ensure thatflexible shield 18 will not engage head 14 and more specifically suchthat aperture 30 will not receive head 14. For example, if aperture 30has a 2 inch diameter, disk 32 will have a diameter larger than 2inches. Disk 32 will also minimize water splashing upwards throughaperture 30.

In order to shift flexible shield 18 from an open position to a closedposition, cover 20 is preferably used. Cover 20 includes aperture 34 forreceiving handle 16 of plunger 12 and open end bottom 36 with outer edge38. As cover 20 is lowered down handle 16 of plunger 12, preferably byuser gripping handle 40 on cover 20, center portion 22 of flexibleshield 18 will fit within open bottom end 36, while blades 24 are pusheddownward by outer edge 38 such that blades 24 are at an angle to centerportion 22.

Once flexible shield 18 is completely within cover 20 (or substantiallywithin cover 20), a user can carry storage rack 42 which includes drippan 44 and support arm 46—over to and, if desired above toilet. Cover 20fits into drip pan 44, which will collect any water left on flexibleshield 18. Support arm 46 may receive handle 16 of plunger 12 to keepdevice 10 in simple and effective storage position until it is neededagain.

When use of the device 10 is desired, handle 16 of plunger 12 can belifted by user. This will lift up cover 20 and flexible shield 18, whichmay all be moved over toilet bowl. Device 10 is lowered into toiletbowl, and handle 40 of cover 20 may be grasped to remove cover 20 fromplunger 12 and device 10. As cover 20 is removed, flexible shield 18will transition from the closed position to the open position.

Once device 10 is no longer needed, cover 20 can be positioned on handle16 of plunger 12, and moved downward, which will shift flexible shield18 from open configuration to closed configuration. Device 10 can bereturned to storage rack 42 until use is needed again.

In FIGS. 3-5, a preferred flexible shield 100 is shown which includes atleast two members 102 a, 102 b. The members 102 a, 102 b may be heldtogether with rivets 104, or any other similar connecting elements.

Each member 102 a, 102 b includes center portion 106 a, 106 b, withinaperture 108 a, 108 b for plunger handle, and a plurality of blades 110a, 110 b extending away therefrom. Additionally, each member 102 a, 102b may include a plurality of gaps 112 a, 112 b, with each gap 112 a, 112b being disposed between adjacent blades.

As shown in FIG. 5, when first member 102 a and second member 102 b aremated together, blades 110 a of first member 102 a line up with gaps 112b of second member 102 b and gaps 112 a of first member 102 a line upwith blades 110 b of second member 102 b. The resulting flexible shield100 has alternating blades (110 a, 110 b, 110 a, 110 b, etc.) whichpartially overlap with each other. This overlapping is sufficient tomate members 102 a, 102 b. However, members 102 a, 102 b may also beheld together with rivets 104, or any other similar connecting elements.

In order to support some of blades 110 a, 110 b a variety of structuresmay be used. For example, one or more support arms 114 a, 114 b may bedisposed within gaps 112 a, 112 b of one member 102 a, 102 b and whichfit through slot 116 a, 116 b in the other member 102 a, 102 b.

Additionally, support 118 may pass through center portion 106 a, 106 band have portion above 120 flexible shield 100 and portion 122 belowflexible shield 100. In the embodiments with flexible shield having atleast two members, support may also include portion 124 between firstmember 102 a and second member 102 b. Support 118 can be, for example, aspring, which will still allow blades 110 a, 110 b to bend and switchfrom the open position to the closed position.

As shown in FIGS. 6-8, some embodiments of the present invention includesecondary shield 200 disposed on top of flexible shield 202 to furtherprevent splashing. Secondary shield 200 may be secured to flexibleshield 202 with rivets 204 or other connecting structures. It ispreferred that secondary shield 200 is also flexible.

In a preferred embodiment, secondary shield 200 comprises two members206 a, 206 b and also includes spring 208 for biasing members 206 a, 206b away from each other. Such a configuration will allow secondary shield200 to sit on top of a toilet bowl, with flexible shield 202 within thetoilet bowl.

Secondary shield 200 may also include cap element 210 having aperture212 for receiving handle of plunger. Cap element 210 acts to block anywater that may splash upward through aperture (not shown) in flexibleshield 202. Flexible shield 202 may include additional aperture 214 toaccommodate additional tools, like a toilet brush, should use of same bedesirable while device is deployed within a toilet bowl. Alternatively,it is contemplated that the flexible shield is used exclusively with atoilet brush and that aperture 212 receive handle of brush as opposed tohandle of plunger. Furthermore, aperture 214 will also act as a venthole to allow for changes in air pressure when plunger is being moved soas to minimize any movement of the flexible shield.

Secondary shield 200 may also include fin 216 which extends away fromsecondary shield 200 towards flexible shield 202. Fin 216 helps minimizesplashing that is occurring across the toilet bowl (in a directiongenerally perpendicular to fin 216).

It is preferred that secondary shield 200 is supported on flexibleshield 202 via one or more support arms 218.

Flexible shield 202 may also include incisions 220, which provide theflexible shield 202 with the feathering discussed above.

A device according to one or more of these embodiments is believed toprovide a device that is easily deployed, minimizes water splash,minimizes a user's interaction with same, and which has a relativelysmall size, yet an ability to fit a variety of differently sizedtoilets. These and other benefits should be readily apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art.

It is to be understood that additional embodiments of the presentinvention described herein may be contemplated by one of ordinary skillin the art and that the scope of the present invention is not limited tothe embodiments disclosed. While specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been illustrated and described, numerous modificationscome to mind without significantly departing from the spirit of theinvention, and the scope of protection is only limited by the scope ofthe accompanying claims.

Claimed is:
 1. A splash shield for a plunger comprising: a flexibleshield having a relatively planar center portion with an aperturecapable of receiving a handle of a plunger and a plurality of bladesextending away from the center portion, and, the flexible shield beingcapable of expanding from a closed position to an open position within atoilet bowl and being biased towards the open position.
 2. The device ofclaim 1 wherein the splash shield further comprises: a support passingthrough the center portion of the flexible shield and including aportion above the flexible shield and a portion below the flexibleshield.
 3. The device of claim 1, wherein the flexible shield comprisesat least two members, each member having a center portion with anaperture and a plurality of blades extending away from the centerportion.
 4. The device of claim 3 wherein each member of the at leasttwo members further includes a plurality of gaps, each gap disposedbetween adjacent blades.
 5. The device of claim 4, wherein a firstmember of the at least two members also includes at least two supportarms, and wherein each support arm of the at least two support arms isdisposed in a gap of the first member.
 6. The device of claim 5 whereinthe splash shield further comprises: a support which includes a portionabove the first member, a portion below the second member and a portionbetween the first member and second member.
 7. The device of claim 1wherein each blade includes an outer edge and the outer edge isfeathered.
 8. The device of claim 1 further comprising a secondaryshield disposed on top of the flexible shield.
 9. The device of claim 8wherein the secondary shield is supported by at least one support armextending above the flexible shield at an angle.
 10. The device of claim1 further comprising a cover, wherein the cover forces the flexibleshield from the open position to the closed position when the cover isapplied to the flexible shield and allows the flexible shield to shiftfrom the closed position to the open position when the cover is removedfrom the flexible shield.
 11. The device of claim 1 wherein the handleof the plunger moves independently of the flexible shield at least whenthe flexible shield is in the open position within the toilet bowl. 12.The device of claim 1 further comprising a disk having an aperturecapable of receiving the handle of the plunger, the disk having aperimeter greater than a size of the aperture in the flexible shield.13. A splash shield for a plunger comprising: a flexible shield havingan aperture capable of receiving a handle of a plunger and capable ofexpanding from a closed position to an open position within a toiletbowl and being biased to the open position; a cover for enclosing theflexible shield, wherein the cover includes an aperture for receivingthe handle of the plunger; and, wherein the cover forces the flexibleshield from the open position to the closed position when the cover isapplied to the flexible shield and allows the flexible shield to shiftfrom the closed position to the open position when the cover is removedfrom the flexible shield.
 14. The device of claim 13, wherein the coveris removably disposed about the handle.
 15. The device of claim 13,further comprising a drip pan for receiving a bottom of the cover and asupport arm for receiving the handle of the plunger.
 16. The device ofclaim 13 wherein the cover includes a handle.
 17. A splash shield for aplunger comprising: a flexible shield comprised of at least two members,each member including a center potion with an aperture capable ofreceiving a handle of a plunger; a plurality of blades extending awayfrom the center portion and capable of bending; and, a plurality ofgaps, each gap being disposed between adjacent blades; a secondaryshield disposed on top of the flexible shield, the secondary shieldincluding an aperture of receiving the handle of the plunger.
 18. Thedevice of claim 17 wherein the secondary shield comprises two membersmoveably connected.
 19. The device of claim 18 wherein the secondaryshield further comprises a spring for biasing the two members away fromone another.
 20. The device of claim 17 wherein the secondary shieldincludes at least one fin extending towards the flexible shield.